Letter from the Chair of Governors 28th February 2001

The inspection report is good and reflects the qualities within the school of which I am sure you are aware. The teaching of English and Maths has been highlighted as being of a high standard as reflected in the very good SATS results for Year 6. It was noted that children have enthusiastic attitudes towards learning and that their behaviour is good. The report recognises that the school has good links with the community and is well supported by parents. Both staff and governors are very appreciative of all this help, without which, the school could not function as well as it does.

You will see that standards in ICT (Information and communication technology) are identified as a problem in the report. In fact governors had already realised this was an area of weakness and additional resources had been made available and outside specialists have been brought in to assist and train staff to remedy the situation. This support will continue so that we bring ICT teaching within the school up to an acceptable standard.

We acknowledge and are concerned about the criticism of Year 1 teaching. However, support and monitoring are in place and we expect to see improvements.

Overall this is a very positive and good OfSTED report and the whole community can feel proud of their school. If you have any comments with regards to either this letter or the report and wish to discuss them please feel free to contact me directly or through school.

Yours Sincerely

John Dinsdale

Chair of Governors

SUMMARY OF THE INSPECTION REPORT– Date of Inspection 15^th – 17^th January 2001

Bow Community Primary School. Acting Headteacher: Colin Searle

The school was inspected by three inspectors, led by Ann Currie. This is a summary of the report, which is available from the school.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Bow Community School is a smaller than average primary school for boys and girls aged from four to eleven years old. At the time of the Inspection the headteacher had been absent through illness for six months. The deputy was the acting headteacher. The school is currently under-subscribed with 133 children on roll. New children join the reception class in either September or January prior to their fifth birthday.

The school is situated in the village of Bow in rural Mid Devon. Most children come from the village or the surrounding area. There is a shortage of larger housing in the area so families often have to move to find suitable accommodation. Last year 5 children left the school during the school year. Thirteen per cent of children are eligible for free school meals; this is broadly in line with the national average. Children enter school with a wide spread of ability. It changes from intake to intake. Overall it is average, but about 30 per cent of the children have limited vocabularies. The school assesses 25 children as having special educational needs. The proportion is similar to the national average. The main needs are related to a variety of learning difficulties and hearing and visual impairment. No children have a statement of special educational needs. All children are of white ethnic origin.

HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

This is a good school with clear strengths. There is a purposeful, happy atmosphere and relationships are very good. Children work enthusiastically and they are making steady and often good gains in learning. By the time they leave the school, children achieve very good standards in English and good standards in mathematics. The quality of teaching is good overall. All staff work together very well as a team. The acting headteacher and the governors are providing good leadership. Their actions are clearly focused on raising standards in teaching and learning. The school has a deficit budget caused partly by the long-term illness of the headteacher and also a fall in pupil numbers. It gives satisfactory value for money.

What the school does well

What could be improved

The areas for improvement will form the basis of the governors’ action plan.

HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

The school has maintained its good features and made satisfactory improvements in most of the areas for action identified in the previous report. Many of the improvements have been initiated recently. The improvements in the results obtained in national tests at the end of year 6 has been above the national trend over the last three years. The school has adopted the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority’s schemes of work to ensure that children’s learning is steadily developed. The National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies have been successfully implemented and they are having a positive impact on standards. Teaching is monitored and teachers’ planning and the overall quality of teaching have improved. There is an increased awareness of the need to raise standards in writing, especially for boys, and appropriate strategies have been introduced. Recent improvements have been made in the provision for teaching information and communication technology. There is now an outside area for the youngest children and a variety of wheeled toys provided to extend their physical development. The books provided by the school, for example in the library have been reviewed and challenging texts are used in literacy sessions to extend the learning of more able children. There has been insufficient progress in providing a curriculum for the youngest children that meets their learning needs. With the current governing body and the acting headteacher the school is well placed to continue to improve.

STANDARDS

The table shows the standards achieved by eleven year olds based on average point scores in National Curriculum tests.

# Similar schools selected on the basis of the percentage of children entitled to free school meals.

In 2000, Year 6 children attained standards in English which were well above average compared to similar schools. Results have improved steadily since 1998. The school has set realistic targets for each year group, taking into account children’s prior attainment. Work seen during the inspection indicates that year 6 children are achieving average standards. Past test results show that this is a weaker cohort than last year. In 2000, Year 2 children attained standards in reading that were below those expected nationally, although the results were an improvement over those for 1999 and 1998. Results in writing and mathematics were average. Inspection evidence indicates an improvement in reading and standards in writing and mathematics are being maintained. This is the first year of the new curriculum for children in reception classes and most children are likely to reach the standards expected by the time they are in year 1. Children are making good gains in learning in literacy and numeracy in years 2 to 6. There is a good level of support for children identified by the school as needing additional help, and they are making good progress in relation to their prior attainment. Children are achieving well in information and communication technology lessons. They are not reaching the standards expected because of weaknesses in the past. There were inadequacies in the coverage of the subject, in teachers’ subject knowledge and the availability of appropriate equipment.

PUPILS’ ATTITUDES AND VALUES

TEACHING AND LEARNING

Inspectors make judgements about teaching in the range: excellent; very good; good; satisfactory; unsatisfactory; poor; very poor. ‘Satisfactory’ means that the teaching is adequate and strengths outweigh weaknesses.

Teaching is good overall. During the inspection, 69 per cent of the teaching was good and 25 per cent was satisfactory. Six per cent of teaching (1 lesson out of 16) was unsatisfactory. This was in the reception and Year 1 class where the work was not well matched to children’s learning needs. There was, however, a good supportive atmosphere, which helped children, some of whom were very new to school, to settle well. Teaching is consistently good in years 2 and 6. Teachers have high expectations of children and lessons are stimulating and extend all children’s learning well. Teaching of literacy and numeracy is good in years 2 to 6. There is a good focus on developing children’s spelling. Teachers are giving children a good range of opportunities to write, with an emphasis to stimulate boys’ interest. In numeracy, teachers develop children’s mental mathematics skills well and children show competence and confidence in handling numbers. Staff give good additional support to children identified as having difficulties. The morning class arrangements, where children are taught literacy, numeracy, and science in year groups, are working well. The classes are small and work is well matched to the learning needs of individuals and groups of children.

OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

The school is very much part of the village. Parents are supportive and many help in school.

HOW WELL THE SCHOOL IS LED AND MANAGED

The school has been well managed in the absence of the headteacher. Outside expertise has been obtained to raise staff subject knowledge and confidence in information and communication technology as the absent headteacher is also the subject’s co-ordinator. An advisor from the local education authority is also supporting the teacher in the reception and year 1 class.

PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

The inspectors agree with the positive views expressed by parents. The weekly open morning gives parents a good opportunity to see what their children are doing and to talk to staff. If this time is not convenient for parents an alternative arrangement is made. There is a range of extra-curricular activities provided by the school, which the inspection team found to be appropriate for the time of year and for a school of this size, although they were mainly aimed at children in years 3 to 6. The school is aware of parental concerns about the range of activities provided.

Some parents raised concerns about the absence of the headteacher. They were mainly concerned about the impact it was having on the acting headteacher’s class, Year 3. Last term the class had several supply teachers. The scrutiny of work from the class indicated that there were shortcomings in the quality of teaching. Some worksheets lacked challenge and some of the work was not sufficiently well matched to the individual learning needs of children, with the same work set for the whole class. However, children made generally satisfactory progress over the term. This term the acting headteacher is taking this class in the morning when he does not have other commitments and the class has the same teacher in the afternoon. Some disruption was inevitable, given the school’s limited budget and the fact that the school did not know how long the headteacher was going to be absent. The arrangements the school made were satisfactory.

OTHER INFORMATION

The governing body is responsible for drawing up an action plan within 40 days of receiving the inspection report, showing how the school will tackle the improvements needed. This action plan will be circulated to all parents at the school.